1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a sail craft with a combination sail and wing for both sailing and gliding, and to the mechanical controls for the same.
2. Background Information
Wind surfing, also known as boardsailing, is a relatively recent development in the art of sailing. As far as we know, this development began with the mono-hull sailboard on which a single pilot stands, as on a surfboard, and manipulates the sail.
Through recent extensions of technique and equipment, mono-hull wind surfers have taken on an ability to soar. This added soaring capability is achieved by using the sail as both a sail and a wing, and moving the sail from its sailing position which is generally perpendicular to the deck plane of the craft, to a soaring position more or less parallel to the deck plane of the craft, at which it becomes a wing. In the most relevant prior art known to us, this combination sail-wing is operated by direct manipulation of the structural members such as the boom and other framing to which the sail is mounted. An example of this is a mono-hull sailboard marketed under the trademark Wind Weapons. This prior art device is shown and described in U. S. Pat. No. 4,682,557, entitled Sailing Wing, and issued July 28, 1987 to Magruder and Crowell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,557 represents our point of departure from the prior art.
It is an object of this invention to provide a sail craft with a combination sail and wing, and with mechanical controls to effect its movements between sailing and soaring positions.
Defining certain terms, "left" and "right" are used herein as from the rear of the craft, the viewpoint of the pilot. A "sheet" is a rope, cable, or chain that regulates the attitude of a sail in relation to the wind. The sail craft of this invention may sometimes hereinafter be referred to as a "beach cat". The combination sail and wing will be referred to hereinafter as a "sail-wing".